There has been some disagreement among authorities as to how to improve the quality of the sound of a string instrument, such as a violin. Some experts attribute sound quality to the selection of the wood used during fabrication of the violin, others to the skill in shaping the wood to the desired shape and thickness to achieve the desired sound, still others to the finish applied to the instrument after fabrication.
In my patent application referenced above, I disclose a method for tuning new or used violins to improve the quality of the sound, wherein the selected wood material is first shaped so that the overall thickness is slightly greater than the desired finished thickness. The material is then firmly held and tapped to determine the existing sound. Tapping is first done around the periphery of the material, and material is selectively removed in proximity to the area being tapped, to adjust the audible sound of the wood to a desired pitch over substantially its entire surface, and thus to improve the quality of the sound of the instrument. The material is selectively tuned from the peripheral edge towards the center of the instrument, and the instrument made therefrom resonates at the selected pitch to produce the desired tonal quality.
A finished stringed instrument may be fine tuned by selective material removal to achieve the optimum tonal quality for the selected instrument. Where a finished instrument is tuned, the material may be scrapped on the inside of the
The bow, the bridge, and the bass bars sound bars of a violin, guitar or other stringed instrument may also be tuned in a similar manner. The present application is directed to a more specific teaching of the preferred embodiment of a method of bow tuning, as more completely disclosed in the specification, drawings and claims disclosed herein.